The Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes place every August for just over three weeks. It’s the world’s largest open access art festival where you and your class or group can find theatre, comedy, circus, music, dance and much more in venues and streets all over Edinburgh. Additionally, street performers from around the world perform on the Royal Mile and at the Mound for thousands of people every day.
The Community Stage gives you the chance to bring your class or group and perform whatever piece of live theatre, music, comedy, storytelling or any other art form you like – a chance for your budding Fringe artists to experience being a street performer at the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
After your performance, your class or group will have the opportunity to meet a Fringe staff member and talk to them about what it takes to become a Fringe artist. We also encourage your class or group to go explore the Fringe Street Events.
Community Stage at Fringe 2026
This year's performances on the Fringe Community Stage will be held on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 August 2026, between 11:00 and 18:00. Use the form below to find out more and apply for a slot for your group.
'Performing at the Fringe provides a wealth of opportunities for [school] students. Performing in a play, of course, helps children learn to present and speak in front of others, learn about communication, and improves their self-confidence. It meets at least eight different experiences and outcomes (Es and Os) in the Curriculum for Excellence. We also had the children design the set and costumes and help with directing... I know every child will remember this experience for the rest of their lives.'
Kym Craig, teacher, Preston Street Primary
We made the following video at the Community Stage in 2024 – take a look to get an idea of what performing and taking part might be like:
Background
In 2018, at one of our teacher consultations, there was a call for space to be made within the street events programme specifically for school-aged children and young people to perform.
This led to the successful pilot of our Schools on the street project in 2019. Over 100 young people, from schools across Edinburgh and beyond, performed on the Royal Mile on one of three days we’d set aside for the project. Community groups were invited to take part on one of the other days during the Fringe.
In 2023, the project was renamed as the Community Stage.
Last year, two of our classes performed at the Edinburgh Fringe on the Community Stage. This experience was invaluable to these children. They all came away with such positive memories, a sense of community belonging and a rise in self-confidence. Most of these children revisited the Fringe with their families.
Valerie Blaen, teacher, Tweedbank Primary
